19/09/00: The Olympic men's beach volleyball tournament was the scene of controversy today with teams from the Czech Republic and Spain slamming the format that had made a loss preferable to a win for some teams.

The outbursts came after Americans Kevin Wong and Rob Heidger qualified for the last 16 of the men's competition despite losing 15-11 to Australians Julien Prosser and Lee Zahner.

The Americans had been coasting 9-4 at one point.

Wong and Heidger, as lucky losers, were therefore given the more preferable draw for the last 16 against the competition's rank outsiders, Mexican part-timers Joel Sotelo and Juan Ibarra rather than a match with one of Brazil's higly-rated pairs of Emanuel Rego/Jose Liola and Ze Marco de Melo/Ricardo Santos or European champions and brothers Martin and Paul Laciga.

Spain's Fabio Diez did not mince his words, deriding the Olympic motto of 'citius, altius, fortius' (swifter, higher, faster).

"It's not 'faster, higher, stronger', it's lose," said Diez, who led his side to a 15-4 win and a place in the last 16.

Czech player Michal Palinek added: "It's a stupid system. It's not an Olympic ideal. It's better to lose in this case. That is very bad."

Beach Volleyball World Council president Sinjin Smith defended the draw this afternoon, but admitted it wasn't an "absolutely perfect system".

"We felt it was the best system with the least chance to manipulate," Smith said. - AFP